Family Finally Learns The Heartbreaking Reason Their Adopted Dog Stares At Them Every Night

Adapting to a new home can be difficult for shelter animals. Being brought into unfamiliar surroundings and forced to interact with strangers is both confusing and scary for any creature, especially those who’ve come from traumatic circumstances.

It’s understandable if an animal doesn’t take to a new situation right away. This is doubly important to keep in mind when you’re unsure of their entire backstory; if your new pet is behaving oddly, chances are, there’s a reason for it.

This was true in the case of this family’s recently adopted dog, who stared at his new owners until they fell asleep every night. When they learned the heartbreaking reason he was doing it, though, his behavior made much more sense…

When a family recently adopted their new dog from an animal shelter, he took to the family rather quick. They showered him with affection and he did the same. They had clearly adopted a dog that was a great fit for them.

They took the dog for walks and played with him all day, but, there was one issue: Each night when the mother and father laid down to bed, they noticed the dog would sit at their bedside and stare at them until they fell asleep. When they woke, he was there, still staring. They didn’t understand why he never seemed to sleep at all…

Thinking that there could be something wrong with their new dog, the family brought him to the vet. After his checkup, they were informed that he was perfectly healthy. Happy, they left, though, they still wanted answers, so they decided to visit the shelter where they had adopted him.

When the family asked the shelter staff if they’d noticed the dog’s odd nightly behavior, they broke the heartbreaking news to them. The previous owner had waited for the dog to fall asleep one night and had carried it to the animal shelter and left it there for good. When he awoke, he never saw his owner again…

So moved by their dog’s history, the family went home and immediately put his doggy bed right next to theirs to show that he belonged with them and that he could sleep all he wanted without a worry in the world. The pooch slept soundly in their room with them from that day forward.